Ravel - Pavane for a Dead Princess (Pavane pour une infante défunte) 

Ravel. Pavane pour une infante défunte. An incredibly lyrical and reflective piece, the melody at 1:13 followed by the undulating circle of 5ths cadence is personally one of my few favorite moments in the entire classical repertoire. Although the piece is seemingly dedicated to a princess who has died (we would assume recently), Ravel intended this to be more a thought back to a princess who had lived a long time ago, calling it "an evocation of a pavane that a little princess might, in former times, have danced at the Spanish court". Although this piece was originally written for piano, Ravel's orchestration - written 10 years after the original - would go on to become one of his most famous orchestrations, and is a good testament to how orchestral his piano writing was - I can still hear the sound of an oboe clearly at 1:13. I hope you enjoy this beautiful recording by SPQ, and that you've had a happy and healthy start to your March ♥

Is it time for some more impressionism? What are your favorite Debussy/Ravel works?

I was addicted to classical music 2 years ago, you have just started this channel. You had like 20 K, and after a while I didn't enjoyed classical music like I used to. You had like 100-120 K. Now I came back here just to see you have 2.6 million subscribers.Congratulations friend!

Absolutely incredible... I love the way you fuel your music with emotion, it's so much better than a typical classical musician. You can *feel* what the music was meant to express, and you're one of the few musicians I've found who can properly do this to a powerful degree of precision. Very beautiful work, as per usual ❤

Rousseau every new song you upload is more beautiful than the last one. I LOVE you

I had an opportunity to play this as part of an orchestra and it sounds even better with string instruments... brings you goosebumps just listening to sounds coming together.

Id love to hear some Joplin on your channel especially how you interpret his songs! :)

Beautiful.

I'm getting a lovely jazz kinda vibe with this

So Sweet 💜✨

Entrancing performance. I’d love to see/hear your version of the fourth ballade of Chopin.

Amazing performance! Could you play another Chopin Nocturne or Ballade?

I DEMAND *DANSE MACABRE*!!

5:48💔💗

If this is for a dead princess, how will she listen if she already bit the dust?

PLEASE ROUSSEAU CAN YOU PLAY THE DEBUSSY GOLLIWOG'S CAKEWALK IT'S FANTASTIC

4:02 😏

I'm getting sick of those simply piano ads.

It's the attention to details in classical writing that I always appreciate so much - have you ever noticed that the ii chord is minor at 1:41, but major/dominant at 2:19?

Nothing better than listening to Rousseau on a sad Monday morning

"You're not a princess, and I am not Ravel" -Arima Kousei

03:45 How to vibrato on piano

Big nostalgia here. My grandmother, a piano teacher and an extreme virtuoso, used to play this for me when I was a little kid, right before I went to bed. Now, about 10 years later, she is teaching me. I dream of being able to play this piece one day. Thank you Rousseau for the beautiful interpretation.

Why don't we stop requesting so many pieces and just appreciate the songs he uploads. You're incredible mate

Please play *"Danse macabre"* by Camille Saint-Saëns

Me : "Ok Google, bring me real sadness." Google :

This piece is devilishly difficult to play well. Ravel composes it in such a way that it doesn't sound hard at all, just beautiful. But it is extraordinarily dense and very tricky to pull off. Makes performances of it that much more wonderful to listen to.

PPPPPP huh

Normal Ravel: let me blow your mind This Ravel: let me encompass you in sadness

Nobody gonna mention the beauty of the tiles here? Absolutely gorgeous...

3 years and I still haven't seen anyone write the story behind this piece. This piece was written for a Spanish princess who was married off to an Austrian prince at the age of 16. she struggled to communicate and felt incredibly alone, fell into a depressive state and eventually died at an extremely young age, at 21. The simple layering in the first part of the piece symbolises her life as a child, where everything was simple and straightforward. she lived quite happily. The melody repeats again, this time with slightly more complicated accompaniment. The melody is a metaphor for her identity. She's still the same person, but the accompaniment, her life, has gotten more complex. This is meant to symbolise her growing up, her parents telling her what is to come, and her understanding of how things will change when the day comes. The day finally comes for her to leave Spain, and marry a man she'd never met. Despite this, she's willing to try. The first struggle comes, and she doesn't even realise it until the second washes over, then the third, and so on. The layering becomes much more complicated and slowly, the accompaniment has switched to minor. The accompaniment increases in volume, almost the same as the melody. She begins to lose her sense of self, and eventually, dies. After this comes a more light-hearted section. This symbolises her life in heaven, once again meeting the people she loves, and going back to her ordinary life as a princess in spain. At least, that's what my piano teacher told me.

"you keep saying you're fine but you're not really fine" meme intensifies.

I didn't even recognize the english translation of the title

My girlfriend used to be really suicidal and depressed, and I always told myself that if she died, I'd learn this piece for her, both because it's a beautiful piece, but also because of it's name, since one of my nicknames for her was princess. This was about a year ago, and now, she's no longer suicidal. She pulled through and she's happy now, and I am so indescribably proud of her for it. That said, whenever I listen to this piece, beautiful as it is, I can't help but get really emotional, remembering how I feared that she wouldn't be with me anymore at some point, and how I used to envision myself learning this piece if I lost her. Might just learn it anyway though, and play it to her, since despite all the things she went through, she stayed strong, and she's still here to listen to it.

The funny part about this, earlier today during school, I was like "You know what would be fun to learn to play on the piano, Pavane for a dead princess" then I go check my phone to look up a music sheet and as I turn on my phone I get a notification about you uploading this piece and I'm like "What a coincidence"

6:28 and this inspired the lamp is low, which inspired Arurian dance, where my life changed

Wow he is good at expressing emotion. It isn't often that I interpret what the composers are trying to say but here I can actually hear the happy sadness. It makes me sad myself and not just in general but for whoever the princess was. This definitely had to stir some emotions when it was played.

prelude 24 by Chopin - the storm

"you really are a strange person, you came to the hospital to visit me, and yet all this time, you haven't said a word". .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ....

So bittersweet, this is my new favorite classical piece. It truly moved me. I don't know what it is about the piece and specifically the main theme, but it reflects on the past and conveys the mourning of the present. There’s a tension between peacefulness and the despair.

Petition for Rousseau to play Liszt Spanish Rhapsody❤️😩🙏🏻

I don’t think anyone would have expected this piece to be so challenging to play until they try it

Can you please do one on *Gershwin - "Rhapsody in Blue"* next?

I have no enemies

_"You are locked away from my reach below the ground or above the sky._ _I cannot truly Love you. For our Love is an impossible Love"_

I'm sensing a serious lack of ragtime on this channel...

Arround 5:00 it sounds quite like Debussy Rêverie ^^ Nice feeling :)

Hey Rousseau, could you do Chopin waltz op. 69 no.2 ? I am learning it right now.

"You're not a princess. And i'm not Ravel" -Arima Kousei

1:07 Rousseau pulls out a tenth :)

Sounds like a song you’d hear when mining in Minecraft

3:20 - 3:38, years later = The lamp is low, ++ years later = aruarian dance. Evolution of music is insane

This sounds like a really peaceful dreamworks song

Kosei Arima: "I don't want hear a song of a dead princess" Thank you for the likes. It reaches her...

My great grandma just died and I felt like listening to this beautiful piece. Altough you will probably never read this, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this beautiful arrangement Rousseau and I really hope that you will come back whenever you feel like it.

幽兰露，如啼眼。 无物结同心，烟花不堪剪。 草如茵，松如盖。 风为裳，水为佩。 油壁车，夕相待。 冷翠烛，劳光彩。 西陵下，风吹雨。

I love the points at: 3:16, 6:25; it's like it reaches a point of tension--and then breaks...

0:44 Nunjabes/Laurindo Almeida

I first heard this song when I was in my high school orchestra and we performed it for one of our concerts. I fell in love with the piece. My grandmother loved classical music and when she got diagnosed with cancer, I was often at her apartment to help cook for her and take care of her. I played the song for her on her speaker one morning and she really enjoyed it and wound up falling asleep to it at one point (the chemo made her tired). She passed away a few weeks ago. Now whenever I hear this song, I'm brought back to all the time I spent with her in last months cooking and cleaning while she dozed on the couch. This rendition is gorgeous. Beautiful work as always, thank you for bringing me back to happier times.

Please do Rosalina’s observatory. I think it would sound great.

You have no idea how many time have I been waiting for this piece to be played by you... Thanks!

When heaven rains music I let myself wander The streets of my mind Without an umbrella I let myself be drenched Skin to bone With joy

"This is a pavane for a dead princess, not a dead pavane for a princess" -Ravel, after some guy played it too slow 😊

I'd love it if you did coffee cold by galt McDermott next. It's absolutely late night rainstorm music and there are no great piano versions. If anybody could do it, it'd be you

Sometimes I feel really motivated to learn the piano but whenever I actually start practicing it feels so tedious especially with no guide, no teacher, no book, a lot of unorganized information on the internet. Then when I actually starts practising I return to my usual state of being a lazy shit.

This song makes me think of those days when your home alone. It’s raining outside and all you can hear is the drops of water on your roof and you sit looking out the window throughout your quiet house and you don’t hear a sound but this song playing in the background. It is sad, but calming in a way that makes me happy.

当她踮着脚尖踱过漫长的月光回廊时，梦中的画面比任何一次都清楚地出现在了眼前。夜空是比以往更澄澈的深蓝，衬映着她曾经深爱着的这个世界。怜爱地注视着荡漾在柔和的水面上的月亮被一次次碎裂，被揉皱又融合。连轻轻抚摸着她的脸庞的微风都在道着不舍，朦胧的萤火虫忽明忽灭。晚安，月亮--她想--晚安。在支离破碎的世界中再一次起舞吧。她会忆起比回忆更遥远的城堡，不曾被诅咒过的那段岁月吟唱着悼念的哀歌，却是为了铭记自由。再见。这样想着，她瞥见自己的倒影在水面上似乎模糊了，接着慢慢沉睡。

You got fingers like a angel playing that piano and it makes me think how well you do it and thank you for putting this on RU-vid I really appreciate it and blessed be to you and your beautiful fingers peace out

5:48 is my favorite part, well played Rousseau. Well done friend.

This is the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard.

2:39 extremely beautiful

I've been a fan of ravel for sometime but I've only recently gotten into Nujabes. Only now figuring out the similarities between this and the future Mildred bailey's the lamp is low, then later laurindo Almeida the lamp is low that would go to be sampled by nujabes in the future. It's brilliant how inspiration and use can make beautiful new pieces of art and its also cool to see it come all the way back to ravel.

The bass note at 0:26 sounds like someone crying

I absolutely love this piece … the piano version is lovely and gives me such joy. Greetings from Querétaro, México.

Makes me think about my life.... very beautiful!

RIP Laurindo Almeida

I have no enemies

Consider playing opus 90nr2. Love your vids

Does this piece should felt like mourn or does it needs to sound hopeful. Ravel didn't talk much about the piece

I was deeply moved to learn recently that this favorite masterpiece of mine was played at the funeral of the French great author Proust in a church as his favorite piece . There is something extraordinary in this splendid performance From Tokyo of the Land of the Rising Sun 🇯🇵

Thanks Avalon le Fae, the story that keeps on giving

I literally just finished a test about impressionism, expressionism, and the 20th Century Music just last Thursday, February 27. This piece was one of the examples set by the reporters tasked to discuss impressionism and expressionism. Such coincidence. Maybe not.

0:40 everyone on this channel can reach a tenth wtf

omg, what a coincidence, I just discovered this piece a few days ago and fell in love, just before Rousseau posts it!!

3:20 The Lamp is Low Aruarian Dance

RIP Nujabes

I LOVE this piece, it’s soooo special ❤️❤️❤️ thank you for uploading it!

One day, i want to play this piece in my school at night. The melodies ringing through the corridors, the moonlight is shining, everything is just...calming and peaceful.

Liszt - Mephisto Waltz No 1 please (It's really famous that it is the true devil's song.)

I heard you want to make some more videos on impressionism pieces. Ravel's sonatine is a great one to have on your channel!

Let's talk about Ravel, cause he wrote a piece called "Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte" (Pavane For a Dead Princess), it is a slow and quiet piece, a theoretical piece of music Ravel wrote that a princess could have danced to in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Ravel is 20th century) implying that the "dead" in "Pavane For a Dead Princess" is only meant as a way to say it was meant to sound as though it was from a long time ago. And if you were wondering, a Pavane is a stately court dance, music having the slow duple rhythm, a slow processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century. It just means the song is written for a 16th-century princess to present herself with. Now, Ravel. He wrote a very melancholy piece and yet was adamant that it was not a funerary piece, Ravel was at pains to point out that it 'Is not a funeral lament for a dead child, but rather an evocation of the pavane that might have been danced by such a little princess as painted by Velázquez'. all of the confusion could have been avoided if he had chosen his world properly.

My father plays this song all day long, and it’s just beautiful thank you rousseau again

To me this piece is about tears... from delicate pianissimo teardrops, to forte sobs, to the unseen weeping that we hold inside. Beautiful performance. Maurice would be proud.

OOOOOOOOH ROSSEAU'S BACK!!! MY MONDAYS ARE COMPLETE AGAIN!!!😍 😍 😍

Ravel is my favourite composer. Thank you for sharing this piece. Beautiful as always

Getting Breath of Fire 4 vipes, one of the best games ever.

Rousseau: Uploads video after a longtime. ME: *half asleep* "what a perfect time at night to listen this piece" :)

I really like to listen to this piece during studying. 😃😃

very funny @ 4:02

Very slow, musical meaning disappears in this slowness